MITOCHONDRIAL DNA PHYLOGENY OF INDIAN SEAHORSE (HIPPOCAMPUS KUDA) BASED ON CYTOCHROME B GENE SEQUENCES

Abstract

Syngnathidae family consists of 52 genera and over 215 species including Hippocampus kuda, popularly known as seahorse, which is one of the economically important species being utilized for Traditional Chinese Medicines. International Union for Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) categorized this species as an endangered. We have carried out the genetic study on two populations (Tuticorin and Ratnagiri) of Indian seahorses using mtDNA cytochrome b sequence to reveal the genetic population structure and phylogenetic analysis of Indian seahorses. Our study revealed highly significant divergence in both Tuticorin (0.6429) and Ratnagiri (0.6667) seahorses Further, construction of NJ tree using mtDNA cytochrome b sequence revealed three lineages among H. kuda. One lineage consists of Tuticorin population, other lineage consists of Ratnagiri and the third lineage consists of samples from rest of the world. TMRCA (Time Most Recent Common Ancestors) value for kuda species of different regions was found to be 53,166 years ago. Thus suggests that the fall in the population size of H. kuda is due to overexploitation, but not because of any genetic bottleneck. The findings of the present study have important implications for in-situ conservation and stock management of hippocampus species along the Indian coasts.